The Land Act, 2020 five years on: what the courts have settled

When the Land Act, 2020 (Act 1036) came into force it replaced a patchwork of statutes that practitioners had learned to navigate by memory. Five years later, enough decisions have been delivered to see how the courts are reading the new text.

The clearest trend concerns registration. High Court judges have consistently treated an unregistered instrument as ineffective against a registered interest, while still recognising that equitable claims can survive between the original parties.

Customary freeholds have attracted careful treatment. Courts have looked for evidence of the customary grant itself rather than relying on long possession alone, and they have read the Act alongside the Constitution's protection of stool and family land.

The provisions on land guards have produced fewer reported decisions than expected. Prosecutions exist, but most end in pleas, so the interpretive questions remain open.

For practitioners the practical point is simple. Open the Act in the Statute Book and switch on Good Law Check. Each section now lists the decisions that have interpreted it, newest first.